Harness-maker s sewing-horse



W zfsheets-sheet l.

J. B. U'NDERWO-OD. Harness Makers Sewing Horse. No. 229;;210.

Patented Jur |e 22,1880.

WITNESSES:

Y INVENTOR:

* fi ww 42f ATTORNEYS.

N-PETERS, PHOTO-HTHOGRAPIIER, WASHINGTON- D C.

2Sheets-Sheet 2; J.-B. UNDERWOOD.

Harness Makers Sswin'gHorse.

No. 229,210. Patented June 22,1880.

WITNESSES ATTORNEYS.

N- PETERS, FHOTO-LITNOGRAPHER, WASHINGTQN. D Q

side, of the whole machine. view of the opposite side of the working mech UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH B. UNDERWOOD, OF FAYETTEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA.

HARNESS-MAKERS SEWING-HORSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,210, dated June 22, 1880.

Application filed February 25, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, JosEPH B. UNDERWOOD, of Fayetteville, in the county of Cumberland and State of North Carolina, have invented a new and Improved Harness-Makers Sewing- Horse; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the ac companying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which-'- Figure l is a side elevation, from the treadle Fig. 2 is a side anism with parts broken away. Fig. 3. is a section through line wwof Fig. 1, and with the jaws partly in section, looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 4 is a top or plan view. Fig. 5 is a detail, enlarged, of the awl-bar and keeper.

My invention relates to a machine for harness-makers use, known as the sewing-horse. It is an improvement upon that form of sewing-horse for which Letters Patent No. 221,373 were granted me November 4, 1879, and in which construction an awl-arm carried by an oscillating shaft worked by a treadle was made to project the awl through an elongated slot in the two clamping-jaws, and then to feed the work forward by a lateral thrust of the awlarm, the jaws being slightly relaxed at the same time to permit the work to be .carried along. 7

My improvements consist, first, in the peculiar construction and arrangement of the awlarm and its connecting parts, whereby a parallelmotion is preserved in the said arm and the awlis driven through the work at right angles; secondly, in mechanism for giving to the work an up-and-down motion to change the line of stitch into a zigzag or other fancy course; thirdly, in the peculiar means for relaxing the clamping-jaws preparatory to feedingthe work; and, fourthly, in the peculiar construction and arrangement of the clamping-jaws, as hereinafter fully described.

In the drawings, Arepresents the seat-board, having legs a a. B B are the two clampingjaws, and O is an elevated frame-work, rising In bearings in the upper horizontal portion of the frame, and also in the seat-board, is arranged the vertical rock-shaft D. This rockshaft carries at its upper end a crank arln for driving the awl, and is encircled below by a spiral spring, b, which tends always to hold the awl-driving arm back or away from the clamping-jaws.

Attached to the rock-shaft below the spring is a crank-arm, c, which connects, through a link or pitman, d, with the vertical treadlelever E, which latter is fulcrulned to the frame of the horse and carries below a stirrup to receive the foot of the operator, and by which an oscillating motion may be given to the vertical rock-shaft and the awl driven through the work.

As so far described the machine does not differ materially from the one already patented by me and before referred to.

In constructing and arranging the awl-driving mechanism in this case the awl-bar F (see Fig. 5) is arranged in a horizontal keeper, G, and has an independent lateral movement therein to permit the feed to be efi'ected in a manner somewhat similar to that shown in the previous case, the awl-bar being jointed at its back end, forced toward the operator by a spring, 6, and adjusted for length of stitch by the set-screw f. Now, to give the awl-bar a parallel motion, so as to cause the awl to maintain always a position at right angles to the line of work, I mount in a bracket, H, a short vertical standard, I, parallel with the rock-shaft, and upon the top of the same I hinge a horizontally-moving crank'arm, J, similar in construction to the rigid arm K on the end of the rock-shaft. Both these arms are bifurcated and of equal radius. Between the bifurcated ends of these arms I joint the awl-bar keeper Gr, the same bolt 9 serving both to connect the keeper to the outer crank-arm and to act as a pivotal joint for the awl-bar F. This it will be seen preserves in the awl-keeper a-parallel motion and insures the true endwise passage of the awl through the work, and gives a better hold for feeding the work. It also causes the awl-arm to move laterally out of the operators way.

The work is held by the metal plates B B rising from the jaws, in which is formed the elongated slot h, through which the awl is rojected by the devices before described. After the awl has passed through the work the awl-bar is moved laterally in its keeper away from the operator by a pendent lug, 13, which strikes against a cam-plate, j, on the clamping-jaw B.

In order to open the jaws and slightly relax the work to permit the feeding action, as above, thejaw B is made movable, and to the same I joint. by a metal bracket, the end of the horizontal lever L, which is fulcrumed upon the top of the elevated frame, and is forked at its opposite end, so as to inclose the main rock-shaft D, and which forked end is held up by a spring, la.

Upon the rock-shaft, and just above the forked end of the lever, is fixed a rigid disk, M, to which is fastened a radially-projecting arm, 1, having a pendent lug or pin, m. Now, when the rock-shaft is turned to drive the awl through the work, as soon as the awl is firmly fixed in the work and ready to feed the same the pin m of the arm I strikes one side of the forked lever L, and by deflecting the same on its fulcrum draws thejawB (against its spring) away from the work to relax the same and allow the feed to be effected. As the pin m passes the end of the arm of lever L the spring of the clamping-jaw causes the latter to again seize the work. Then, as the rock-shaft moves back, the pin m of arm Z rides upon the incline n of the arm of the lever L, and, forcing the same down against spring k, regains its former position, and holds the jaw B firmly to the work while the awl is being extracted therefrom.

The advantage of this construction is that the power for opening the jaws is derived from the main drive-shaft instead of from the awlbar, as in my patent referred to, thus relieving the awl-carrier of all strain, and requiring less power to drive the machine.

After the awl has been extracted from the work and is receding to its back position the pin on the opposite side of the disk engages the fork on the other side of the lever and presses the jaw B firmly on the work while the threads are being drawn through. This movement is efi'ected by the action of the spring on the drive-shaft and the foot of the operator as it is drawn back to make the next movement forward.

The mechanism for causing the work to be moved automatically up and down to give a zigzag stitch will now be described.

Upon the main rockshaft is fastened a second crank-arm, N, (see Fig. 2,) connecting with a link-rod or pitman, O, and which, in turn, is jointed to the upper end of a lever, I, fulcrumed upon the frame-work, and carrying at itg lower end a spring-pawl, Q, that engages witha ratchet-wheel, R, and which ratchetwheel is held to its position by a detent, S.

Rigidly fixed on the same shaft with the ratchet-wheel, but on the opposite side of the frame-work, is a disk, 0, (see Fig. 2,) connected by a crank-pin with the slotted end of a vertically-oscillating lever, V, fulcrumed to the frame of the machine. To the end of this lever is attached a vertically-sliding frame, T, passing up between the two clamping-jaws, and terminating in the bed-piece U, upon which the work rests, and which bed-piece, outside the jaws, terminates in lips 1). Now when the rock-shaft is oscillated the crankarm N, pitman O, and lever I, with its springpawl, give an i ntermittent motion to theratchetwheel It, and the revolution of this, through the disk 0 and wrist-pin on the other side, causes the lever V to have an intermittent oscillatory motion, in which the movement is divided into a series of successive steps up, and then a series of successive steps down. The result is that the bed-plate U has a progressive and intermittent movement up, and then a similar movement down, in harmony with the stitches made, so that a zigzag row of stitches may be made automatically.

By changing the fulcrum of the lever V to any of the series of holes the leverage at this point may be varied and the range of the zigzag correspondingly changed; or, if desired,

the connection of the main rock-sh aft with this train of mechanism may be broken and the machine be thus allowed to feed in a straight line.

For holding the work down on the bed-piece a presser-foot, W, is fixed to a standard and then adjusted in the rising and falling frame connected with the bed-piece, so as to move with it.

In arranging the clamping jaws B B, I make them both movable upon hinges at the bottom, and at a point beneath the plates B B interpose between the jaws B B arigid vertical standard, B Of the two jaws, B is held to the standard by a spring, r, whose tension represents the tightness with which the work is clamped. The other jaw, B, is adjusted toward it by a set-screw, t, in accordance with the thickness of the work.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 claim as new is- 1. In a harness-makers horse, the combination, with the clamping-jaws, of the awl-drivin g bar, connected with and carried by a pair of radially-moving crankarms constructed substantially as described, whereby the awl is driven at right angles through the work and the arm moved laterally out of the operators way, as set forth.

2. The combination of the vibrating jaw B with the lever and the drive-shaft positively actuating the same, for the purpose of alternately clamping and releasing the work in a stitching-horse having an awl-feed.

3. The combination, with the movable and spring-pressed jaw B, of the lever L, fulcrumed upon the main frame, and the rock-shaft D, provided with an arm or tappet for deflecting said. lever and releasing the work in the jaws, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the clamping-j aws, of a bed-piece between the jaws, connected with the drive-shaft through mechanism, substan- 6. The combination, with the fixed standard tially'as described, for a progressive and in- B of the two movable and hinged clampingtermittent upward and downward movement. jaws B B, the jaw B being pressed against 5. The combination of the clamping-jaws the work by a spring, as described, and the 5 having eyes or notches on their top edges, an jaw B having its position determined by a 15 awl connected with and operated by the driveset-screw, substantially as described.

shaft, and the lever L, connected with the JOSEPH B. UNDERWOOD. f movable jaw and arranged to be deflected by Witnesses: 1 a cam or tappet in the main shaft, substan- M. FRANOK,

1o tially as described. R. S. HUsKs. 

